This collection has no restrictions.
This collection is located on-site.
Correspondence, manuscripts, documents, photographs and printed material of the English poet and critic, Edmund Blunden, documenting his personal and professional activity. Blunden's letters to his second wife, Sylva Norman, and his secretary, Aki Hayashi, are particularly well represented. Also included are many letters addressed to Blunden by eminent literary figures such as John Betjeman, George Orwell, Siegfried Sassoon, Stephen Spender, and Henry Williamson. Other literary correspondents are Adrian Bell, Joyce Cary, Richard Church, C. Day Lewis, Walter de la Mare, Graham Greene, H.D., William Plomer, Kathleen Raine, and Leonard Woolf. A substantial portion of the cataloged correspondence contains drawings, verse fragments and poems by Blunden which have been analyzed. Also present are eleven of Blunden's diaries, 1936-1967, which contain drafts of a number of poems. In addition, the collection contains a small number of autograph manuscripts of Edmund Blunden's literary works.
Letters from Blunden to Sylva Norman in which there are sketches by Blunden. See box 8-16.
Selected materials cataloged; remainder arranged. Cataloged correspondence, Boxes 1-16; Cataloged manuscripts and photographs, Boxes 17 & 17a; Arranged correspondence, Box 18; Arranged manuscripts, documents and printed ephemera, Box 19.
You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
This collection has no restrictions.
This collection is located on-site.
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Processes by Henry Rowen, 7/75; Patrick Lawlor, David Donabedian, John McW, 7/75; John Roe, 1/94; Henry Rowen 6/96, 3/97, and 5/2000.
Blunden's copy of "Undertones of War" is cataloged for the Rare Book collection.
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
Gift of the Friends of the Columbia Libraries, 1973.
Gift of Claire Blunden, 1993.
Gift of Carol Rothkopf, 1996.
Source of acquisition--Friends of the Columbia Libraries. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--1973. Accession number--M73.
2 letters from Sylva Norman: Source of acquisition--Blunden, Claire. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--04/23/1993. Accession number--M-93-04-23.
Blunden poem: Source of acquisition--Rothkopf, Carol. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--04/02/1996. Accession number--M-96-04-02.
Blunden essay: Source of acquisition--2293B. Method of acquisition--Purchase; Date of acquisition--04/09/1996. Accession number--M-96-04-09.
Photograph of Claire Blunden: Source of acquisition--Rothkopf, Carol. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--1996. Accession number--M-1996.
Poem: V Day: Source of acquisition--2293B. Method of acquisition--Purchase; Date of acquisition--09/06/1996. Accession number--M-96-09-06.
4 letters from EB to Gilbert Phelps: Source of acquisition--2293B. Method of acquisition--Purchase; Date of acquisition--08/11/1998. Accession number--M-98-08-11.
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Cataloged Christina Hilton Fenn 04/05/1989.
2 letters from Sylva Norman Cataloged HR 08/10/1993.
Blunden poem Cataloged HR 05/31/1996.
Blunden essay Cataloged HR 05/31/1996.
Photograph of Claire Blunden Processed HR 01/06/1997.
Poem: V Day Cataloged HR 03/06/1997.
4 letters from EB to Gilbert Phelps Cataloged HR 08/20/1998.
HTML replaced with full finding aid, YH 2022-03
English poet and critic. Born November 1, 1896 and died January 20, 1974. A noted poet and scholar Blunden served in the Royal Sussex Regiment 1916-1919. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1917.
Blunden was a scholar of the English Romantic poets and brought the attention of the literary world to the poetry of John Clare. He began his literary career under the direction of Middleton Murry at The Athenaeum 1920. He taught English Literature at Toyko University 1924-27 and was a fellow and tutor in English literature at Merton College from 1931 to 1943. He was a professor of English at the University of Hong Kong from 1953 to 1964 and held the Chair of Poetry at Oxford University from 196 to 1968.
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